Patriot Scientific Corporation Announces Share Repurchase Plan, Strong Q3 Revenues; Portion of Future Revenues Allocated for Stock Buyback
CARLSBAD, Calif.--April 24, 2006--Patriot Scientific Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: PTSC) today announced a plan under which it would utilize 10 percent or more of future licensing revenues to buy back corporate stock. The Company also announced significant earnings results for its third fiscal quarter, as contained in its Form 10Q filed last Thursday, and confirmed that the previously announced cash dividend of $.04 per share is being issued today.
"The stock buyback plan adopted by the Board of Directors calls for management to use not less than 10 percent of future licensing revenue distributions received by the Company to purchase shares of our stock on the open market in a manner consistent with applicable securities laws and regulations," said David H. Pohl, Chairman and CEO of Patriot Scientific. "These buybacks are, of course, subject to the Company determining at the time licensing revenue distributions are received that such action is prudent based upon market conditions and sound financial management considerations. Repurchased shares will be placed in our treasury as a resource available for possible future use," Pohl explained.
"This stock buyback program reflects our confidence in both the near- and long-term prospects for Patriot Scientific," Pohl stated. "We are committed to returning value to stockholders in various ways, including through our growth strategy as well as our focus on operational excellence and ability to generate and manage strong cash flow. As we receive and accumulate cash in the future from anticipated licensing revenues, our Board will be continuing to review and update our business and strategic plans," he continued. "These considerations currently include payment of dividends, buying back some of our outstanding shares and warrants, and contemplation of other prudent and feasible ways in which we might put future cash to work to create additional streams of revenue for the benefit of the Company and our shareholders."
In actions extremely rare for micro-cap corporations, Patriot will have issued two cash dividends within the past two months. The second of these two dividends is being distributed today to qualified shareholders and warrant holders of record as of March 31, 2006. Upon completion of this dividend payment, the total dividends paid by Patriot so far this calendar year will be almost $25 million. Earlier this year, Patriot also entered into a warrant buyback plan, and in February it exercised one of its monthly options to repurchase 2 million outstanding warrants from a warrant holder.
These cash dividends and buyback plans are especially significant because - until Q3 of 2005 - Patriot had never shown a quarterly profit, and had never realized significant revenue from its 10-patent portfolio of seminal microprocessor innovations. Since February of last year, the Company's jointly owned patent portfolio - marketed as the Moore Microprocessor Patent(TM) (MMP) Portfolio - has been successfully licensed to Intel, AMD, HP, Fujitsu and Casio, generating millions in revenue for Patriot.
The information just released by Patriot - as reported on its Form 10QSB filed with the SEC - includes among other things that in the three months ending February 28, 2006, Patriot Scientific booked some $60 million in revenue from license transactions. As explained in notes to the financial statements, that amount includes revenues of a joint venture licensing entity that are not available to the Company, but which - due to the need to comply with a complex rule of accounting standards - Patriot is required by its independent auditors to consolidate and include with its own figures. The same accounting rule and explanation applies to income figures included in the report.
The Company also completed the previously announced conversion and retirement of all remaining convertible debentures that had been on the books, freeing the Company from the liability as well as certain restrictions and contingencies that had been contained in those debt agreements.
"The very favorable quarterly revenue and income figures, even after allowing for the inclusion of figures for the consolidated joint venture entity, show Patriot Scientific Corporation to be a strong growth company in excellent financial health," Pohl said. "Although past performance does not guarantee future success, we are confident that Patriot will receive additional licensing distributions based on our core patent technologies that are at the heart of virtually every microprocessor produced since 1994. With the precedent of the licensing agreements already entered into with major computer chip and electronic equipment manufacturers, we have every reason to expect that other firms will choose to honor our patents by obtaining licenses."
"Our recent quarterly report also includes information about some litigation or disputes in which the Company is engaged that do not involve patent infringement," Pohl commented. "It should not be surprising for a company like Patriot that has undergone such a dramatic transition in the past year to be dealing with some conflicted matters from the past that need to be resolved. These matters are not distracting us from the normal course of business, and we rely upon the experienced and skillful attorneys who are advising and representing us to help bring these matters to a satisfactory conclusion."
Through the Company's marketing alliance with The TPL Group's Alliacense division, active license negotiations are ongoing with other U.S. and foreign companies whose digital products include fundamental design techniques covered by the Company's patent portfolio. More than 150 of these companies - and that includes practically every high-tech consumer electronics manufacturer and systems integrator in the global marketplace - have been put on notice of likely infringement and the opportunity to obtain licenses.
"Q3 of 2006 has proven remarkably successful for Patriot Scientific," Pohl said, "and our Board of Directors has seen fit to share this success directly with our shareholders through two unprecedented dividends. Now, in addition, our Board has adopted a strategic long-range stock buyback plan to demonstrate our belief in the future of Patriot and the long-term value of our stock."
About Patriot Scientific
Patriot Scientific (OTC Bulletin Board: PTSC.OB) has emerged as an effective and dynamic intellectual property licensing Company, developing and marketing innovative and proprietary semiconductor technologies. The Company's portfolio of proprietary designs encompasses what is believed to be fundamental ultra-low-power array microprocessor technology, as well as pending patents designed to protect Patriot's proprietary technology.
Detailed information about Patriot Scientific can be found on the website www.ptsc.com. Copies of Patriot Scientific press releases, current price quotes, stock charts and other valuable information for investors may be found at www.hawkassociates.com and www.americanmicrocaps.com. An investment profile on Patriot Scientific may be found at http://www.hawkassociates.com/patriot/profile.htm
About the Patent Portfolio
The patent portfolio, marketed as the Moore Microprocessor Patent(TM) Portfolio, contains intellectual property that is jointly owned by publicly held Patriot Scientific Corporation and the privately held TPL Group. The portfolio encompasses seven U.S. patents as well as their European and Japanese counterparts. Both TPL and Patriot assert that their jointly owned patents protect techniques used in designing microprocessors, microcontrollers, Digital Signal Processor (DSPs), embedded processors and System-on-Chip (SoC) implementations. The MMP Portfolio is exclusively managed by Alliacense, a TPL Group enterprise.
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